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Debate around key articles: the first replies to dissents and author responses

March has been an exciting time for us here at F1000 Medicine. We already allow Faculty Member to submit dissents of evaluations, as well as encouraging authors to respond to the evaluations of their articles. This month, we have published our first Faculty replies to both a dissent and an author response.

Allowing Faculty Members to reply to dissents and author responses is yet another great way of enlivening discussion and encouraging debate around key articles within the medical community.

Read our first reply to an author response -- Todd Bull of the Respiratory Disorders Faculty responds to BG Stevinson et al.:

Read our first reply to a dissent -- Michael Strupp responds to a dissent made by Stefan Hegemann, both of the Neurological Disorders Faculty:

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Posted by Adie Chan on Tuesday Mar 25, 2008, Category: Editorial News | Permalink

Rheumatoid arthritis often misdiagnosed

In February, Annelies Boonen recommended an article that brings into question the ability of general practitioners to correctly diagnose rheumatoid arthritis {1}. The article shows that a large proportion of patients in this study were initially misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and that only 27% of patients were referred to a rheumatologist. Of the patients referred, only 17% of the patients received confirmation by a rheumatologist of a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Boonen is concerned as "the results appear worrying with regard to diagnostic ability and referral practice in first-line health care." Boonen believes that "rheumatologists should actively contribute to improve the diagnostic ability of general practitioners for rheumatological conditions and develop recommendations or guidelines for referral."

The attention that this article has received from other websites clearly demonstrates its importance to medicine. Ultimately, the diagnostic techniques of general practitioners and the medical resources available to them constantly need to be updated to ensure patients are always receiving the highest quality of medical care.

1. Feldman et al., Arthritis Rheum 2007, 57:1419-1425 [PMID:18050182]

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Posted by Natalie Davall on Thursday Mar 13, 2008, Category: Editorial News | Permalink

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